SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Despite a season-high 20 saves from first-year goalie Sydney Widlitz, the Union College women's lacrosse team dropped a 16-5 matchup to #3/2 William Smith College in a Liberty League contest on Saturday afternoon at Frank Bailey Field at Bertagna-Class of 1985 Stadium.
 
The loss drops Union (8-5, 4-4 Liberty League) into sixth place in the conference standings, but the team has a game in hand on both Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Vassar College – two teams Union has already beaten – and can move back into a tie for fourth place with a win on Wednesday against Bard College.
 
Widlitz was tremendous between the pipes for Union on the day, with her 20 saves the most by a Union goalie since Cat Ruggiero turned aside 22 shots in a 9-8 loss to #1 Salisbury University on March 26, 2010. Even with her excellent day, William Smith (15-0, 9-0 Liberty League) still got seven goals from Maddie Montgomery to pick up the victory.
 
Union hung with the nationally ranked Herons in the first quarter, with both teams scoring twice. After a pair of early saves by Widlitz, sophomore Greta Maurer opened the scoring 3:13 into the contest with her 12th of the year. Two goals in 17 seconds by Kaitlin Pellechia looked to potentially open the floodgates for the visitors, but four more Widlitz stops killed the momentum and junior Dana Nelson scored from the eight-meter arc in the waning seconds to tie the score.
 
The game changed in the second stanza, however, with William Smith outshooting Union 18-1 and outscoring their foes by a 9-1 margin to take control. Widlitz made seven saves to try and keep the contest close, but four goals from Montgomery and three from Molly Davis helped the Herons surge to an 11-3 halftime advantage.
 
Union played the Herons even again in the third quarter and stayed close in the fourth, but the deficit was too much to overcome. Maurer and senior Elena Gerrato scored 34 seconds apart in the third quarter to get the home team back within 12-5, but William Smith scored the final goal of the third and the only three of the fourth to close out the contest.
 
Union will start the final week of the regular season on Wednesday with a 6 p.m. matchup at Bard.